ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (6-3, 1-2 NSIC) fought their way to an 84-76 win over Wayne State (7-2, 1-2 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center.
 
With their top two scorers out for the game, junior Marcus Skeete stepped up in a big way as he scored a season-best 30 points and matched his career high with 13 boards in the win. Skeete was highly efficient as he hit 8-13 from the field, 4-7 from beyond the arc and 10-10 from the free throw line in the contest.
 
Sean Mathieu gave Concordia two players in double digits in scoring as he added 13 points on 6-10 shooting while he added three rebounds and two assists. Japannah Kellogg pulled down nine rebounds and blocked three shots while scoring five in the victory. Reid Patterson chipped in eight points while DJ Akpati had a career-best seven points off the bench.
 
Concordia's ability to get to the free throw line made a huge difference in the game as they hit 23-31 (74.2%) from the line while limiting the Wildcats to just 8-11 (72.7%). The Golden Bears also took advantage of their extra opportunities as their 16-10 edge in offensive rebounds led to a 15-5 advantage in second chance points. Overall, CSP outrebounded WSC 49-39 in the win. Defensively, the Golden Bears held WSC to just 42.7% (32-75) from the floor and 22.2% (4-18) from three-point range to aid the effort.
 
The win moved the Golden Bears to 20-30 in the all-time series as they registered their first win against the Wildcats since Feb. 14, 2020 and just their second in the series in the last 15.
 
The defensive effort began from the opening tip as CSP held Wayne State off the board for the first 3:29 as they built a 5-0 lead. From there, the margin remained within a few possessions until an 11-3 run in favor of the Golden Bears turned a 13-12 edge in the into their largest lead of the half at 24-15 with 8:32 to go before the break. The Wildcats answered with a run of their own as they scored the next 11 straight to take their first lead of the night at 26-24. Concordia bounced back with 10 of the final 12 heading into the locker room as they led 34-28 after 20 minutes of play.
 
A 9-1 WSC run five minutes into the second half triggered the first of eight second half lead changes at 44-43 as the two teams spent much of the middle portion of the half jostling for the lead. After the Wildcats took their largest lead of the contest at 53-50 with 9:41 to go, the Golden Bears exploded for a timely 21-4 run over seven minutes of play, highlighted by 10 points from Skeete, to ice the game at 71-57 with 2:35 remaining. Wayne State managed to chip away to make it a two possession game in the final minute of play, but Concordia withstood the threat to seal the 84-76 win.
 
The Golden Bears hit the road next weekend as they travel to Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and Sioux Falls on Saturday.